<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<meta charset="UTF-8">
<title>Space Debris by ltgarrix (phoenix316)</title>
<style type="text/css">

body { background-color: #ffffff; }
.CI {
text-align:center;
margin-top:0px;
margin-bottom:0px;
padding:0px;
}
.center   {text-align: center;}
.cover    {text-align: center;}
.full     {width: 100%; }
.quarter  {width: 25%; }
.smcap    {font-variant: small-caps;}
.u        {text-decoration: underline;}
.bold     {font-weight: bold;}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/29066532">Space Debris</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/phoenix316/pseuds/ltgarrix'>ltgarrix (phoenix316)</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Farscape</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Gen</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-01-29</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-01-29</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-13 08:55:04</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,605</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/29066532</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/phoenix316/pseuds/ltgarrix</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>What happens when Talyn detects a strange object in deep space? Set during early season 2, this is for the Terra Firma Starburst Challenge to have one or more characters encounter an Earth object and show their reaction.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>5</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Space Debris</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Thanks once again to the wonderful notasebacean for her help in the final polish of this chapter. Anything else in error is all me. :D</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>~Crais, I have detected a small object… that is giving off radiation.~<br/>
<br/>
Crais accessed the sensors but did not recognize the object. It appeared to be a small satellite of sorts. Certainly not the type of object he would expect to find in interstellar space. “Is it dangerous?”<br/>
<br/>
~No. It is emitting a very low level of radiation. Should I bring it onboard?~<br/>
<br/>
Normally Crais would have said no, but they had come across very little in their travels lately. Perhaps there was something interesting about this… thing. If not, at least it would provide Talyn with some needed mental exercise. He decided to treat the opportunity to evaluate this rather mysterious object as a slightly unorthodox field exam. “Let’s see what it is.”<br/>
<br/>
While Talyn brought the small object onboard, Crais headed down to the hangar bay. By the time he arrived, it was sitting on the deck, surrounded by several DRDs that were busily involved in an attempt to clean it. He squatted down to look at the writing on the side. It was unfamiliar to him. As he circled the object, he noticed a gold disc affixed to the surface. On the disc were several images. They seemed to be some sort of code or language. Pictoral code was more likely.<br/>
<br/>
“Talyn, analyze the disc and see if you can make any sense of the images. They might tell us something about who created this… device.” It seemed he was right about it giving them something to do. It presented quite a mystery.<br/>
<br/>
One of the DRDs moved up to the gold disc to take a detailed scan of it.<br/>
<br/>
~The disc is detachable.~<br/>
<br/>
Deciding this would be an easy way for him to try to make sense of the symbols on the front of the disc, he retrieved the tools necessary to remove the plaque. He took his time because he didn’t want to damage it, and it looked like it had been on there for quite some time.<br/>
<br/>
When he finally removed it, he saw that it was actually covering another gold disc. This one had ridges on it. There also appeared to be some sort of writing at the center of the disc, but he was unable to read it. Looking at the cover, he saw that one of the pictures resembled the disc he was holding. There was a drawing of a device in that image that he realized was also available to him. Examining the other piece, he saw that it had a small needle on it that looked small enough to fit in the ridges of the disc. “Talyn… do you think this could be a data storage device?” It seemed very primitive, but at least two of the drawings seemed to pertain to this disc and what to do with it.<br/>
<br/>
~It might be possible. Preliminary analysis of the device shows that it was designed to gather and transmit information.~<br/>
<br/>
“Concentrate on decoding the symbols in the first two images. They look as though they might tell us how to access whatever data was stored on the disc.”<br/>
<br/>
Crais took the disc and cover and retreated to his quarters to see if he could make any sense of what was there. “Have the DRDs build a device that will spin the disc and an arm to hold the needle.” That seemed prudent if it was indeed an information storage disc.<br/>
<br/>
Examining the needle device, he saw that it would need some sort of electrical leads, but he had no idea what sort of signal to expect from it. Deciding that could wait, he started examining the line code and trying to see if he could make any sense of it.<br/>
<br/>
After an hour, Crais’s musings were disturbed.<br/>
<br/>
~I believe I have decoded the cover. The symbol on the lower right represents hydrogen and the dashes are a binary code of numbers.~ Talyn activated the display and showed Crais the translated images. ~The DRDs are almost done building a player. I believe I know how fast to spin the disc and how to process the signals.~<br/>
<br/>
“Excellent. I’ll be right down to the hangar bay.” When Crais arrived, he saw the turntable set up on the workbench and put the disc on it. After placing the needle in the groove on the outside edge, he instructed Talyn to start spinning the disc.<br/>
<br/>
~I’m going to record it all first and then play it for you.~<br/>
<br/>
“Excellent idea.” While Talyn was recording the information off the disc, Crais continued to examine the probe. It had several antennas and sensors in addition to what appeared to be cameras. The large dish appeared to be a transmitter. “Are you receiving any information from this object?”<br/>
<br/>
~I am detecting a signal, but have not yet placed a priority on decoding that signal. It is on very primitive radio bands.~<br/>
<br/>
That made sense to Crais since the probe itself did not look very sophisticated. It did not appear to have a substantial propulsion system and the energy source was also quite primitive, which begged the question: how did it get out into interstellar space to begin with?<br/>
<br/>
<br/>
“How old do you think it is?”<br/>
<br/>
~Approximately twenty cycles.~<br/>
<br/>
Twenty cycles. There was only one way it could have gotten so far from it’s launch point in that short a span of time: a wormhole. He frowned at that thought. He knew of only one being who had experience with wormholes. John Crichton. He had seen the technical information on the module and there was a great deal of similarity in the technology of the two objects. Besides, in some way that he could not explain even to himself, they almost looked alike.<br/>
<br/>
~I have finished decoding the first side. It has some images and some audio.~<br/>
<br/>
“Let’s start with the images.” Examining the first several images, they seemed to be trying to provide some information about the planet of origin. Then his fears were confirmed when he saw images that could be human.<br/>
<br/>
“Talyn, you have a sample of Crichton’s DNA, correct?”<br/>
<br/>
~Yes.~<br/>
<br/>
“Compare it to the data provided on the disc.” As he waited for Talyn to conduct the analysis, he continued to inspect the images. There were some landscapes and then some animals and then more… humans. Image after image, he was amazed at the diversity of the images. It seemed the Crichton was correct about his planet, if this was indeed from his planet.<br/>
<br/>
Most Sebacean societies were homogenous, but this… Some displayed a moderate level of technology while others showed people living in primitive dwellings. He could not comprehend how some members of the same species could be allowed to live in such primitive conditions when something better clearly was available.<br/>
<br/>
When the image of the person in space was displayed, any lingering doubts that this disc had originated on Crichton’s planet were dispelled. The patch on the sleeve was the same, and some of the markings on the rocket in the next picture matched those on the module.<br/>
<br/>
~As you believed, the DNA sequence provided matches Crichton’s.~ After a few seconds, Talyn continued, ~Would you like me to play the audio?~<br/>
<br/>
Leaning back in his chair, Crais replied, “Go ahead.” He wondered with a bit of trepidation just what the humans had seen fit to place on the disc.<br/>
<br/>
At first he heard a series of greetings. They were all a variation of the same thing. He could only imagine they were different languages. What sort of planet spoke so many languages? “Skip to the next part. I don’t need to hear the greetings.”<br/>
<br/>
Talyn skipped ahead, and the next thing he heard was several odd sounds. Some he recognized as weather noises. Others he assumed were animals, and then there were several artificial noises, likely created by some sort of machinery.<br/>
<br/>
Then Talyn began to play back the music. Some of it was haunting and beautiful, some more frenetic, but it was all otherworldly, and he asked to Talyn to play it again.<br/>
<br/>
He wasn’t sure what the music was, but some of it was absolutely amazing. If he had to choose his favorite, it would be a haunting rhythmic chant. While it told a wonderful story, he couldn’t help but think there was more to it than the little bit included on the disc. A shame they had chosen to cut that particular piece so short.<br/>
<br/>
Stopping the music, he realized he was actually appreciating human culture. “Talyn, finish the analysis of the probe. Then we will see what can be salvaged from it.” He knew they were far enough from Crichton’s planet that the signal would never be received anyway. As far has humans were concerned, the probe was gone. “We will never speak to Crichton about finding this probe, is that understood?” He could barely tolerate the human, and he did not want to deal with the questions that would be asked if Crichton learned Crais had found something from Erp.<br/>
<br/>
~And the data?~<br/>
<br/>
“Archive everything except the music.” He enjoyed the music, he would just be careful not to play it if the human was ever onboard.<br/>
<br/>
**************<br/>
<br/>
<b>A/N:</b> Thanks for reading. For those who have not figured it out, Crais stumbled upon one of the Voyager probes. I know that we have contact with both of them, but I thought this would be a nice nod to Star Trek in addition to being the only Earth object I could think of that Crais would come across. Information on the Voyager disc and probe itself come from the <a href="http://voyager.jpl.nasa.gov/">NASA website</a> and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voyager_1">Wikipedia</a>.</p>
  </div></div>
</body>
</html>